A six-pack of winter goodness

I hate seasonal creep as much as anyone, but these freezing cold nights are starting to make me crave some dark and heavy winter beers.

Give me some stouts or Belgian dark ales, or maybe even a barleywine or two. I’m ready, although I’m already starting to miss Oktoberfest beers.

Below are the a pick-and-mix six pack of winter beers that I’m looking forward to the most and I hope you do, too. They aren’t in a particular order.

1. St. Bernardus Christmas Ale. The St. Bernardus Christmas Ale is my favorite beer from one of my favorite Belgian breweries. This 10 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) quad is a warming beer, full of flavors of plums and raisins and a nice sweet malty backbone. This is a treat.

2. Troegs’ Mad Elf. Another quad, this one brewed right here in the U.S. (more specifically Pennsylvania). This quad is brewed with honey and sour cherries. You’d think the bee

3. Rising Tide’s Ursa Minor. This is an American stout with a twist – it is brewed with German hefeweizen yeast, which adds a hint of banana flavor often found in traditional hefeweizens. This turns a good stout into an excellent beer worth seeking out.r would be overly sweet, but this is the perfect winter dessert beer.

4. Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome. There’s nothing special about this British winter warmer, except it’s just darn tasty. It’s sweet and smooth and pleasant to drink. Unlike many American winter warmers, the Winter Welcome does not add any spices, and I appreciate that.

5. Port’s Santa’s Little Helper. What’s better to help you warm up on a cold winter night than a big, high ABV stout. This is a 10 percent ABV behemoth of a beer. It has coffee and chocolate flavors. There is a nice roasted bitterness with a balancing sweetness. It has a hint of booze, which is to be expected for such a big beer.

6. Berkshire’s Holidale. Berkshire’s Holidale is a high ABV barleywine. That’s all I can say about it, because the recipe is different every year. However, I can say that I love it every year and I can’t imagine that will change this year.

Norman Miller

I hate seasonal creep as much as anyone, but these freezing cold nights are starting to make me crave some dark and heavy winter beers.

Give me some stouts or Belgian dark ales, or maybe even a barleywine or two. I’m ready, although I’m already starting to miss Oktoberfest beers.

Below are the a pick-and-mix six pack of winter beers that I’m looking forward to the most and I hope you do, too. They aren’t in a particular order.

1. St. Bernardus Christmas Ale. The St. Bernardus Christmas Ale is my favorite beer from one of my favorite Belgian breweries. This 10 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) quad is a warming beer, full of flavors of plums and raisins and a nice sweet malty backbone. This is a treat.

2. Troegs’ Mad Elf. Another quad, this one brewed right here in the U.S. (more specifically Pennsylvania). This quad is brewed with honey and sour cherries. You’d think the bee

3. Rising Tide’s Ursa Minor. This is an American stout with a twist – it is brewed with German hefeweizen yeast, which adds a hint of banana flavor often found in traditional hefeweizens. This turns a good stout into an excellent beer worth seeking out.r would be overly sweet, but this is the perfect winter dessert beer.

4. Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome. There’s nothing special about this British winter warmer, except it’s just darn tasty. It’s sweet and smooth and pleasant to drink. Unlike many American winter warmers, the Winter Welcome does not add any spices, and I appreciate that.

5. Port’s Santa’s Little Helper. What’s better to help you warm up on a cold winter night than a big, high ABV stout. This is a 10 percent ABV behemoth of a beer. It has coffee and chocolate flavors. There is a nice roasted bitterness with a balancing sweetness. It has a hint of booze, which is to be expected for such a big beer.

6. Berkshire’s Holidale. Berkshire’s Holidale is a high ABV barleywine. That’s all I can say about it, because the recipe is different every year. However, I can say that I love it every year and I can’t imagine that will change this year.